Beings of Depth
by CybertronianBeing
Summary: After Camryn Cavello is displaced from her home, given the chance by Agent Fowler to stay with the Autobots while her injured parents remain in the care of Jack's mother, and paired with the coolest Autobot guardian ever, things finally begin to look up. But, the Decepticons have different plans, and take the chance to take Camryn's only stability captive, and then her herself.
1. Chapter 1: What is Okay

"So why do you have to drink that stuff?" Smokescreen asked, the Autobot emblem placed in the middle of the steering wheel-that no one ever used-lit up to the syllables of his voice. I leaned the seat back after screwing the cap on my chocolate protein shake tight. I swung my cleated, fatigued feet onto the dash.

"To become a stronger athlete, I guess. Coach says it's important for recovery." I stretched my sore shoulder to the side and then laced my fingers behind my head just before my guardian hit the brakes. _Hard._

My head lurched forward, forehead narrowly missing my knee-caps. "Geez Screen. Watch the hammy's." I rubbed the back of my leg on the stretched muscle. Good thing I wasn't tight that particular day.

He began to increase his speed again and leveled out at sixty-five. "How many times have I told you not to put your feet, especially cleated or spiked, up on my dash?"

"Too many to count." I answered him sharply and leaned the seat forward to its regular position after removing my feet off of the dashboard.

"Thank you!" He chirped. I couldn't help but smile at his sense of humor. Smokescreen's humor really was the best. Bulkhead would never-well, actually he would throw the breaks on if Miko ever put her knee-high Converse on his dash. I guess he isn't a very good example, but I know that Bee would never pull that joke on Raphael.

"Yea. Yea." I waved him off like a teacher would wave off an annoying student, but knew that if he could've been smiling, he would've been. We revved into the base and Smokescreen opened his passenger door for me and I hopped out with my bag slung over my shoulder. He transformed and winced when he noticed the muddy volt cleats were still on my feet.

He flailed his arms to get my attention and stood up on one foot to point to the bottom of his feet. Confusion crossed my face as I meandered forward to look at the bottom of his foot. Was there something wrong with his foot? He nodded his head from side to side sharply and Arcee squashed a giggle.

"Hello Camryn." Ratchet uttered without moving a muscle as to look back. Smoke facepalmed himself. "Will you please take those abominations of footwear off of your feet? You're getting mud all over the place."

"Hello to you too, Ratchet."

"Just take them off."

"You know they're called cleats, right? Also, they're barely even muddy!"

He turned slowly to look me in the eye, annoyance spray painted his face and it even made me shudder. He opened his mouth to speak but think of any good-more like appropriate for Raf- words to say, especially with four other Autobots in the room.

"Your every wish is my command." He received a facetious, awkward courtesy.

"You're just as funny as the kid over there." He jerked a thumb at my Autobot guardian. Smoke scoffed and crossed his arms whilst leaning on the wall. The medic finished with a sly grin that only Bulkhead could actually see. "Which means you're not."

I groaned and popped a squat and began to wrestle the cleats off of my sweaty feet. I threw them into my gray bag and slipped my Nike slides over my red socked feet. The gray, number six etched backpack was slung on my back as I climbed the stairs to catch up with the other three about their day.

"Hey Cam, hit up any homework you have, alright?" Screen reminded, knowing that I could be a very distracted bean at many times. I nodded gratefully and flashed him a smile. His return warmed the room and I swear Arcee even cracked one too. Newbies have that special ability to do unique things that no one else was able to do. Like making the Autobot assassin crack an actual smile.

Miko and Raphael were playing their old-school racing game while Jack, who obviously should've been doing homework judging by all of the binders spread on the coffee table, egged their competitiveness on. Miko leaned left and right to the swerve of her car and gritted her teeth, spamming the keys in a desperate attempt to go faster.

"Come on Raf!" Jack cheered his young friend on, flanking him from behind with his hands on his shoulders. I modeled the dark haired teenager behind Miko. I placed my hands on the top of her head.

"I'm channeling my special driving powers to you. Come on Miko!"

"Can't you see I'm trying?!" She sharply remarked. I cringed at her ferocity and was curious to know what her malfunction was. Maybe a bad day at school today? I wouldn't know even in spite of us attending the same school. We barely saw each other unless we got detention at the same time.

They began to reach near the end of the racing track. In the horizon, the checkered banner peeked over the mirage that hovered over the pavement. The finish was in sight! Miko's red car inched ahead but Raf, who had been driving quietly for quite some time, made his calculated move. Jack saw it coming and pumped a silent fist in the air.

The young spiky-haired kid turned slowly and caught up Miko's car's back right tire, sending it spinning out. She allowed a frustrated grunt and tossed the remote backwards onto the couch, right in between her and the victor. Bulkhead sighed in disappointment not in his human friend, but in disappointment for her. He knew how competitive she could get.

Bee cheered with a series of jubilant beeps and a little bit of dance. Miko crossed her arms in anger. The yellow and black Autobot began to jump around Bulkhead, completing a few full circles around his green comrad.

"Whatever." Miko uttered and rolled her eyes to Cybertron and back.

Arcee and Smokescreen watched from a distance, both grinning at the most entertaining sight they'd seen all day.

"Is there any football on?" I piped up in the midst of a dust up that arose between Miko and Jack and ended with them freezing, both hands on one side of Miko's former controller. Miko stamped down a snort and Jack just smiled at me. My cheeks heated up and honestly I tried to figure out why. It was an honest question. I guess I was relatively new here, but surely the Autobots liked sports? They seemed like that type to me.

"We don't do… sports." Miko motioned towards me in a manner that I partly judged as offensive and snub. I didn't throw shade on her love for Slash Monkey or that horrid rock music, so I thought it best she back off.

"Dully noted." I replied sharply and resisted the urge to take a shot at her interests, but bit it back mentally and physically. Instead of commiting a gesture that I know that Optimus, Screen, Doc, and the others would not approve of, at Miko, I decided it was best that I just keep my head down. Unpacking my bag of most of its contents, made up of many crumpled assignments I'd long forgotten about, I readied myself for a self-inflicted long, long night of homework and maybe some football watching. "Fine. I'll just watch it on my computer then."

Miko blew her stray pink hair out of her face and shook her had at me. "Whatever, soccer player."

"Miko, relax." Bulkhead decided it best for him to intervene.

"Now you're on _her_ side?" Miko pointed a finger in my direction as if I was some Decepticon who just tried to scrap her. I threw my hands up, similarly to an action I would take to try to convey innocence to a referee after committing a blatant foul. "All I did was call her a soccer player!"

"No dip Sherlock." I snapped before Bulkhead's attempt to reel her in. "Which, by the way, calling me that was quite unnecessary. In fact, it was obviously said to be some sort of affronting statement! You have a problem with people who don't love the same things you do? Gotta go judging everyone all the time?"

 _Then everything went for a downward spiral from there._

"Camryn-" Smokescreen made his way towards the common area the Autobots had set up for their human allies to dwell and hang out in. It was on a platform to the left of Ratchet's many monitors and consoles.

"That's it!" She shouted, and made a move at me, only to be stopped by Jack who withheld her like a zookeeper. I stood my ground, clearly unfazed but unwilling to strike.

Optimus made his way into the room, seeming sure that his audio receptors picked commotion of some sort up. Miko stopped struggling against Jack upon the Prime's entrance and Jack even let her go and tried to act casual. "What seems to be the problem?"

"She-!" Miko tried to throw me under the bus, but Arcee was a bit too quick for the blame to be cast without proper evidence from a key witness. And in her eyes, she was that witness for the time being.

"Just a bit of a dust up between Cam and Miko here. I believe that it's under control now." The blue Autobot explained after putting a hand on her hip, but wasn't so sure that the last thing mentioned was entirely accurate. Miko fumed at me, staring deep into my eyes. I stuffed my hands into my pockets casually and couldn't help but shoot a small smirk her way, basking in my silent victory.

I swear, if Wheeljack was in there, she could've set his one of his grenades off just by staring at it. If Megatron was here, she could've scorched him with her breath or maybe knock him off of his feet with a single punch.

She didn't really scare me that much. Some sports players had looked like they could and wanted to do worse. Got decked one time. Woke up in the hospital with the news that my team caught on fire and kicked the snot out of that team after they drug me off the pitch. Served them right.

"I think it would be wise for you two to separate and have some time to decompress." The Prime suggested, although everyone in the room knew that it was more of a gentle command than anything else.

"I'm not going home because of her!" Miko shouted. I shook my head at her unnecessary action and began to gather the mess that the contents my school bag made on the smooth concrete floor.

"Miko. Maybe it's better if I take you home. I think you need some time away." Bulkhead stepped a bit closer and stood ready to break up a skirmish if one began. He shot a look at his leader and Optimus gave him a nod, signaling his permission for the wrecker to stand guard at her house that night, unless something very serious arose.

"Fine!" She threw her hands up and snatched her nearly-empty bag out from under the stairs and slid into the passenger seat of her Guardian. If you can guess, she only hopped in roughly after shooting a scowl straight at me. I couldn't absorb anymore unnecessary hate, so I deflected her shot right back at her. Good Primus what was up with her?

After they sped away, Optimus took a knee and get near eye level with me, since I was standing in a bit of shock and awe, similarly to how I always did, on that platform. He placed an open palm down on the floor to stabilize himself and his optics readjusted to fix on me. You'd think it would've been intimidating, but it really felt the opposite.

"I everything alright, Camryn?" He asked, genuinely concerned. Smokescreen faded behind Optimus and stared at the ground; he kicked himself for not being the one that asked me. I reminded myself to reiterate our strong bond only after a month of his guardianship, and how much he meant to me. "Are you adjusting well?"

His questions took me by surprise. Maybe it was because I never took, or got, the time to see Optimus' compassion for his team and allies, or possibly because I always stood in awe of his, and all of the other Autobots' miraculous stature. _Bots are beings of depth, not just physical strength._

"Yes sir." I answered dutifully, although not truthfully. He blinked, obviously unconvinced by my vague and quick answer, but he did not seem to condemn me for it.

"You do not need to lie to me, young one."

"Optimus, I'm alright. I appreciate your concern." I said with a twinge of inadvertent curtness. I cringed regarding my tone and looked into his optics apologetically. He, in all of his wisdom, smiled at me, picking up on my sincerity. "Sorry-"

"It's okay not to be okay, Cam." Arcee strutted forward a few strides from the corner she and Smokescreen observed from during the racing game and the blowup. Optimus stood from his kneeling position, although I felt it was so backwards, as if I should've been the one on my knees.

Everything in that situation felt backwards. Some of it was in a good way, like how Optimus seemed like such a radically different leader. Unlike our president and many other leaders, Optimus was a selfless and compassionate leader. He even spared kindness for his enemies and for the ones that had wronged him, like me for example when I was a bit short. He let negative words roll off of his back like random drops of energon and never wasted his time talking noise. He always let his actions; strength, inner and outer; leadership; and courage do the talking for him.

There was something to say about learning from him and the rest of the Autobots. They were so selfless in their actions to come here in spite of everything they had been through with their own planet, and protect us, even though protecting the human race wasn't their intent when they came here. They realized that they were uninvited guests on our planet, yet came and made this world a better place. Changing lives for the better and never for the worse. No matter what.

 _How's that for dictating your opinion of them by only actions and personality traits?_

Some of that situation, however, wasn't so good when twisted from the usual swing of things on planet Earth. Usually the comic books and novels that I ever bother to pick up always end up with the good guys prevailing, but this brutal war that has been described to have been going on for eons hasn't tipped in favor of these good guys. In fact, it seems that the Autobots were always at the grave disadvantage.

"If you want the honest answer," the Autobots gathered around the platform, but sparing enough space as to not seem pressing or threatening. Jack stepped behind and placed a hand on my shoulder and Raf faded beside me, taking my hand gingerly. Arcee and Bumblebee smiled with the slightest amount of pride at their human's actions. I breathed a sigh to de-stress and calm my pounding heart as the sets of optics and eyes bored holes into me. "What happened a month ago was not okay. What happened to my parents and house was not okay. What the Decepticons have done is not okay."

Tears threatened and blurred my vision, but I wouldn't let them fall. If the Autobots could prevent the Decepticons from prevailing, certainly I could keep my tears from prevailing well.

Jack gave me a reassuring squeeze and a small nod. "But what _is_ okay is that I have you all now. You're my family now, as well as my parents. What _is_ okay is the care that I trust my parents are in, thanks to Jack's mother. What _is_ okay is that I have Smokescreen as the best guardian in the universe." Screen peeked out from behind Optimus with a huge denta-grin. Arcee sent a condoning smile his way and shifted her weight to her other leg, smiling at Jack as well. "Thank you guys for the opportunity that you've given me. Thank you for saving not only my physical body, but my emotional being and my spirit…"


	2. Chapter 2: Homerun to Heaven

Jack and Raf had long gone home. A football, soccer, and half a baseball game with Smokescreen, Bee, and Arcee later, my watch read two AM and I had gotten little to none of my homework done.

That really didn't make much of a difference to me. I had the chance to hang out with the coolest guardian in the world, along with his really cool teammates, and cheer on my favorite teams all in one night. I even got Smokescreen into football! The glory of being right about Autobots being totally sports fans internally was worth basking in for a little bit and that's what I did about three hours before until now. Knowing me, I probably wouldn't let it go for the next-forever.

I have to say, it was quite amusing to watch the games with the Autobots. Especially with the diversity that came with watching with three bots that were so different personality-wise. What surprised me the most was the fact that Arcee cringed at some of the hard hits in the Dallas Cowboys game, and everyone knows that she's super hardcore.

Bumblebee mentioned that he really wanted to try baseball. accept Cybertronian-style! I told him to count me in until he explained that they would be using a ball similar to one used for lobbing and that if I wanted to get squished by either a ped or the ball, I could be his guest.

 _Needless to say, I chose to just play regular baseball and live_. Didn't need to make that homerun to heaven just yet.

Explaining the actual rules of the games to them was also a very fun task. One way that was way more fun than doing Calculus or that overdue book report.

Smokescreen was really invested in the football game and really loved to get on the referees a lot. It was actually quite entertaining to see them get so competitive over the controversial calls and bad sportsmanship, which was funny because from what I understood, the Decepticons played so unfairly all the time.

Needless to say, I spent a three quarters of the game belly laughing at how competitive those three were getting. The other quarter was used to explain the game and why the referee's job was so hard.

Even Optimus came and observed the game for a little bit. He asked many questions but I was way more than happy to answer them. Again, here I was not noticing how curious the Prime could get when he wanted to. Man, we totally needed to hang out sometime. He was such a cool bot-

Oh, and Ratchet had to tell us to be quiet about every five minutes. Especially when Dallas scored. Who knew they could cheer like that?! The Doc kept telling us to stop being so obnoxious as we celebrated with some touchdown dances I taught them on the fly. Each time his request became more demanding until finally Optimus ordered us to be more quiet, but not too quiet. He was an advocate for team bonding, after all.

Eventually, Optimus ordered all of us to go power down in the middle of the baseball game. After some protests from the bots and some sad whines that sounded as if we were kindergarteners who were just denied the right to go outside. The Prime was unmoved but did crack a bit of a grin at his team. I packed my stuff into my backpack after the Bots and I reluctantly agreed and waltzed towards the quarters I was given after saying goodnight to the others.

"Smokescreen, please stay for a moment. I wish to speak with you." Optimus called after my guardian as we began to make our way towards Smoke's room, where our quarters were located. I looked back at my Autobot guardian and smiled a toothy grin at him which was returned by him before he meandered towards Optimus.

"Good night Smokescreen. Thank you for being the best guardian ever."

He beamed brighter than ever, nearly blinding me. "Night Cam. Thanks for being the best human girl ever."

A little flicker of happiness, that set my heart into a little bit more of a rapid motion, shot through my body as I turned and made my way to the rugged room set aside for me.

It wasn't exactly set aside for me. In fact, the Autobots were basically unprepared for me to come and stay here and honestly It wasn't their fault. But, that was why it was so makeshift.

It was pretty easy to be sure the Autobots weren't ready to be seen by a human, teenage athlete, who's grades were slipping, and had been expected to serve a week's worth of detention for breaking one of the school's back windows with a soccer ball. Then, suddenly that said human's house was crushed by a Decepticon miner during a skirmish, and both that said person's parents were put into the hospital from such related accident. Then, after that hot-treaded teenager was rendered helpless and forced onto her knees by circumstances and the light at the end of tunnel was completely eclipsed, she was approached by an agent instructing her that he was from some military organization. Suddenly, instead of being taken to some shelter or random host parents' house, she ended up in the middle of the desert surrounded by a bunch of transforming, talking robots.

Little did I know that Agent Fowler's idea of it being best that I came to the Autobot base was truly one of the best things that had ever happened to me. I owed my life to Jack's mom and Agent Fowler. What they had done for me behind the scenes was a level of kindness that I couldn't even comprehend.

The levels of compassion, kindness, love, and care in the last month had been off the charts, especially from Smokescreen. Honestly I don't know if I could've made it without him and the Autobots. Don't want to think about the true outcome without them. Can't think about it really.

I never wanted to think about a world without the Autobots in it. Never wanted to imagine a world without Smokescreen.

...

This is a horrifically short chapter and I apologize! Chapter three will be longer and even fluffier, I swear! Also, I promise we will get into the action very soon. I thank you all so much for your patience and for reading! It means the world to us writers when we get views!

I love you all! Chapter three will be put up as soon as I can get it up. 3

If you enjoyed, it would mean the world if you left a review!


	3. Chapter 3: Out Like a Light

Music coursed through my body, pumped in through the gray earbuds stuck into my ears. I hummed softly and wished for an energy drink or something sugary to help me make it through the night. Why did I have to be such a procrastinator?!

The upbeat music was the only thing keeping me from completely dozing off, although the heavy headed-nods did steadily begin to increase. That book report was going to take forever, especially accounting for the fact that the thick, useless book wasn't even half read. It really wasn't even that interesting and that made everything even worse. There wasn't any action in it!

Suddenly the fatigue set in and I couldn't keep my fingers constantly tapping the keys anymore. Slinking down from the position I was in-which was with my knees supporting my computer and my back slouching against the wall that bordered my headboard-to a more comfortable position, I slipped in slow motion, but quickly, into slumber, just as a foamy wave slips up onto a sandy beach.

 _I need to stay awake and at least finish this page._ I reminded myself and tapped my temple rapidly. I was beginning to get annoyed with the impatient-ness of my brain. After changing the song to one of eardrum-rattling bass, I felt a little bit more energized than I was about thirty seconds ago, and then continued with the world's most boring assignment.

Lighter footsteps echoed down the tall and wide hallway outside, easily identifying that Arcee was working her way towards her room. The huge door that divided Smokescreen's giant room from the outside corridor whined at the Autobot assassin's request. Her shadow appeared on the floor to my left and climbed the wall as she made her way into the room slowly.

She leaned around the corner, and to my assumption, it was in an attempt to check if I was asleep. She seemed, upon noticing that I certainly wasn't, relieved. She then ambled in and took a seat next to my hollowed out room in the side of the wall. I removed one earbud and awkwardly grinned at her, as if I could compensate for being up even later than when Optimus had instructed all of us to power down. She gave me the mom-look of the century, painfully reminding me of my own mom, and began to study the few posters I had taped up on the walls.

Some of it was sympathetic art from friends and even some of my own terrible ones. The rest were ones that Jack was able to grab from the small store that sold cool things like that.

Somehow, Ratchet had the bright idea to hollow out a room right inside of Smokescreen's dormitories' right wall for me. It was set right smack in the middle of the wall, about fifty feet above the smooth concrete floor with a ladder leading right up. Almost fell off. _Twice_.

Well, that was until Smokescreen and Ratchet made it a rule that I had to take my slippery socks off before I began the climb.

Don't get me wrong, It really didn't bother me, it was just a bit of a weird choice of placement. I suppose he couldnt've just stuck me into one of their extra rooms reserved for the possible new Autobots. It would've obviously been way too big and overwhelming for the likes of me, but still.

The room was barely big enough for the half bunk, half futon bed donated by Jack's mom; a night stand; and a few shelves. Ah, it served its purpose well and I wasn't about to complain about their unending hospitality. I even got to hang out with Smokescreen all the time, which was a dream. He was definitely keeping me afloat right now. They all were.

"You should be asleep. What're you doing still up?" She asked suddenly, but didn't sound condemning, just concerned. Her optics searched me up and down and then locked on to my tired eyes. I tried to hide the war for sleep that was being waged internally, but my drooping eyelids easily gave my position away. This war was one that I wouldn't be winning for very much longer, although the new light that flooded the room did offer another boost of short-lived energy.

I yawned, not even fighting it anymore. "Homework."

She scoffed playfully. "Homework." I raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure that football isn't what's actually happening?"

I couldn't help but smile at her, but truth be told I hadn't been doing anything but homework and wondering what Optimus and Smokescreen were talking about since I got in here. Every now and then a few words floated in, but they sounded mostly like gibberish through those huge metal doors.

"Only homework." I replied and threw my hands up in my defense for the second time that night.

"Well, you look very tired. You need to power down for at least a few hours before you have to go to school tomorrow."

"Alright. Gotcha."

"I mean it, Cam. Real sleep."

I nodded to acknowledge and couldn't help but notice, again, how much she sounded like my mom.

Heavy footsteps belonging to my guardian echoed down the hallway distantly. Arcee stood rapidly, as if she was in fear of getting in trouble for being in there. She offered a two fingered salute and I returned it, smiling. She exited quickly, shutting the door with the touch of the button outside and left me alone with my thoughts, fears, homework, and sleepiness again.

As my consciousness wavered, I caught the familiar sound of heavy locks depressurizing as the Arcee's door slid open next door. Then after the light, agile footsteps stopped, door slid shut and not a peep came through the wall following. Arcee must have powered down.

Finally, my physical and emotional fatigue lost me the internal battle. My eyes slipped closed and I made like Drake, and was _Out Like a Light._

…

(Third Person)

Smokescreen made his way into the room, wincing at the shriek of the automated door. He stole a glance at Camryn, his human friend, and huffed a sigh after noticing that she was sound asleep, completely unaffected by the sounds surrounding her, including the audio-receptor splitting rap that he could hear from thirty feet away emitted from her earbuds alone, his footsteps, and the door.

"Good Primus, I will never understand that girl." He continued to observe the young teenager that he had learned to care about so much, sleeping deeply on the top bunk of her bed. She drooled out of the side of her mouth and breathed heavily, alarming the rookie for only a second before he remembered the sleep patterns that humans normally had, judging by the way Arcee had described it to him. "She must have been really, really tired to just leave her music up so loud, her laptop out, and all of her papers just strewn around like this."

The brunette stirred and Screen retreated back, alarmed by the sudden movement. His optics clouded in fear that he had just woken her. After allowing a relieved exhale, he drew closer to her again, wishing he could do more to aid her short three hours of sleep.

He wrestled his shaking servo's extremities towards her and gently pushed the lid of her laptop closed, barely allowing a click as it shut. He smiled at how sweet she looked, all curled up like she was every night. After pushing the laptop towards the wall that the black, chipped bed bordered so it wouldn't accidentally fall off, he was able to remove the earbuds out of her ears by slowly sliding his pointer extremity between her neck and the wire. He winced as the youngling rolled over, but settled down quickly with a sigh.

He couldn't believe how much of an expert he was able to be at taking care of humans. Smokescreen was a quick learner, but he didn't think he could be this fast.

To finish off his streak, he daintily pinched the wrinkled quilt blanket that she had obviously kicked out of the way, and hiked it up over her shoulders, all without touching her or waking her. Camryn snuggled into the new-found warmth involuntarily and continued to dream about her favorite Autobot guardian.

"No nightmares tonight, alright Cam?" He whispered scarcely, not even sure if he even said anything at all. As if to respond, she cracked a little grin and extended her legs underneath the blanket, obviously more comfortable.

The rookie nodded his head in satisfaction with his work, and powered down. He, too, was going to need some sleep for the day ahead.

...

I hope you all enjoyed this little bit of fluff! I'm sorry it isn't as long as I originally promised, but these following chapters show promise to be longer reads! Any-who, I hope you all enjoy! Again, I love you all!


	4. Chapter 4: I'll Be Good

**(Cont. 3rd person)**

"Camryn! Wake up!" The rookie reached gentle, cool, metal digits out to shake his sleeping human companion lightly. When he set eyes on her structure, he noticed that sweat wildly poured down her face, as if she flopped after a massive workout or adrenaline spike, and it was worrying Screen sick.

Just before, he had awoken to what sounded to him as labored breathing and constant tossing and turning. He, in all of his wisdom, thought it smart to wake Arcee from her blissful power-down to seek assistance.

"What?" She had asked herself, still half asleep, as the banging on her door became more persistent, more impatient. "Optimus? You know you could've just emergency commed if you needed m-"

The mechanical door groaned open to reveal the white, red, and blue rookie, optics looking more than tired. His cyan blue, adrenaline burned and battle worn optics, although all innocence still not completely soaked out, dropped and wouldn't connect with his companion's. He had barely been through much real battle, but was already ripening way too fast into the warrior he needed to be.

It pained the femme assassin to see him have to grow up so fast, just like she had to, all those cycles ago. But unfortunately, hard times in war called for hard, desperate measures to be taken. Among those hard measures, robbing one of their innocence was one of them.

Smokescreen desperately explained the situation to Arcee. She listened intently, although she never panicked or moved a million miles per hour, like blurr, towards the youngling she had talked to only two hours ago.

Smokescreen babbled like a maniac after a huge dose of high-grade for a few more minutes. The more he repeated his words, the better Arcee could piece the situation together. Due to his scatterbrained approach to explainantions, it had taken her a few minutes to completely compute what was truly going on.

She leaned on the doorpost of her room comfortably, with her arms crossed in front of her. One of her dark blue wings scraped against the metal quietly.

When she finally got him to stop talking, his out of breath frame bent over in distress and a bit of annoyance that she didn't seem to be taking him seriously.

"Alright kid, relax. She was, or is, having a nightmare."

"But when she has regular nightmares, this never happens! She usually just tells me about them on our way to school!"

"Shh! You'll wake the others or her."

He intentionally lowered his voice to a whisper. "Sorry."

"Look. Just let her ride it out. Jack has nightmares all the time. It's part of normal life. Don't freak out."

"What should I do then?"

"The best thing you can do is just relax, for her and yourself. You're going to give yourself, as June calls it, a heart attack."

"Look Arcee, I just-"

"Worry? I know." She sighed. The corner of her dermas curled upwards. "You worry for each other."

He nodded in complete agreement. She sighed and placed her servo on her hip joint.

"Get some time to power down. She'll be alright. Go ahead and sleep in as long as you can this morning. You two need it."

He could definitely get behind that idea, although he was otherwise unconvinced that his human companion's condition was normal. Even though he could not bring himself to completely believe the teammate he had begun to think of as an older sister and a close friend, he allowed a smile. "Thanks 'Cee. Sorry for waking you."

"No problem kid. I'll be sure to kick your tailpipe in training next time. Then we'll be even."

After that, he finally earned a smile out of the calloused femme assassin.

"Not if I kick your skid plates first." He pounded his fist into his open palm lightly, paying much mind to the fact that his quarters' door was still gaping.

"In your dreams, rookie."

After deciding that it wasn't worth it to stall and mess around, he chuckled and nodded with gratitude. The rookie guardian then turned and strolled back into his room. He closed his door upon hearing Arcee's groan shut and returned his attention to his young best friend.

It was then that it truly dawned on him that she really was his best friend. The truth relaxed him and at the same time singed his armor with fear. What if something happened to her? What would he do then?

The same thing that Arcee would do if she lost Jack, or Bulkhead with Miko, and same with Bee and Raf. They wouldn't know what to do without their human allies. They were a family.

Even if they fought sometimes.

But nothing could break up their family, right?

No time to worry about your fears now, Screen. He reminded himself sharply, and suddenly couldn't rid his mind of the sights and sounds of that battle that ended with Camryn's entire world crashing down on her.

…

After sliding down the wall beside Camryn's makeshift room, he hugged his knees close to his chassi and pondered. His brain wouldn't stop racing and wasn't about to take a pit stop to allow him to get the much needed rest Arcee had mentioned.

He did, however, take much comfort in the fact that Cam's breathing had evened out and she finally settled into one position. Smokescreen found it humorous how her dirty-blonde hair fanned out randomly when she slept, as well as all of the weird positions she ended up rolling unconsciously into.

As if karma laughed at his mental optimism, moments later she sighed sharply and tensed up, snapping the guardian out of the light doze he had been able to manage. He searched her face, feeling half afraid that he had somehow awoken her.

When no evidence of her ever waking up was found, he returned to his natural position, staring at the opposite wall aimlessly.

Out of boredom and a trace of anger that his body continued to fight sleep, the young bot began to hum one of his favorite songs off of Camryn's playlist.

He found it funny how wide-a-variety of music Cam enjoyed. And the more hilarious part was that he often found himself enjoying it as well. She, and he, as it was apparent, loved everything from rap to pop to the calmer side that music had to offer. He remembered that she always referred to those calming songs as 'chill'.

The iconic chorus arose out of him, timidly during the first few lines, "I'll be good, I'll be good. And I'll, love the world-" He glanced at his favorite human girl in the whole wide world, "like I should."

As if the cylinders inside of her mind were still firing, she smiled, baffling the young Autobot. Was it because of what he had spoken-or better yet sung? Or was it just major coincidence?

He wouldn't ever find out because he never actually would ask her about it. Mostly it was due to him drawing the educated conclusion that she wouldn't have known the answer even if he asked her. Though his spark longed to know if it was him that kindled the grin.

He decided it was safe for him to presume that he did, so that's what he chose to believe. Besides, it didn't hurt anyone for him to decide that he did anyway.

With the assumption that he wasn't doing anything to interrupt her sleep, he continued. "I'll be good, I'll be good." His optics searched the room as he choked back-what was it the humans called them again? Ah, tears, he recalled.

But the newbie refused to let the energon sapped fluids flow from his cyan blue photoreceptors.

"For all of the light that I shut out, for all of the innocent things that I doubt, for all of the bruises I've caused. And the tears… for all of the things that I've done all these years…"

She rolled over on her back, still looking more mildly relaxed.

"For all of the sparks that I stomped out. For all of the perfect things that I doubt." He stole another glance at her, the grin was gone but she somehow looked content to him.

As the song's bridge built up in intensity as he played it inside of his brain module, he was filled with a sudden determination. At that moment in time, he decided to vow to protect this little, fragile girl he loved to call his companion; although, she was so much more to him than just that.

The young bot swore on the allspark to never lose her or forsake her. He never planned to break that promise, even though she didn't even hear him make it. His spark would be snuffed before he allowed this young athletic teenager to perish.

"I swear, Camryn Anne Cavello, I will be good. I'll be good. And I'll love the world like I should. I'll be good for all of the times, I never could…"

He was sure Arcee swore that same oath to Jack, and same would go for Bulkhead and Miko, and the exact parallel for Bee and Raf.

Surely.

And, regardless if they never did, there he was, making that promise to her, right then and there. He intended to keep it.

The chorus rang through the still, quiet air as his voice box hummed softly one more time. The young girl snuggled into her sheets and caused the rookie to grin mildly.

Smokescreen smiled at the comfort Cam finally was able to settle into and allowed the soft resonance of the end of the song lull not only her, but himself into a comfortable and restful powerdown.

…

"By the allspark!" Ratchet squinted at the Cybertronian computer embedded in his arm. The time read seven fifty-four and he had not seen a trace of Smokescreen or Camryn since late that last night.

With the help of Raphael, he had finally been able to input a little icon on the top right corner of his screen that displayed Pacific time so he could keep track of the five-counting Smokescreen-nuisances that had gradually grown on him.

"What seems to be the matter?" Optimus trudged up to his old friend and placed a servo on the shoulder armor of the anxiety ridden medic.

"There are four-" He glanced down at the little clock again, "three minutes until school starts and I haven't seen Smokescreen or Camryn all morning."

The Prime frowned and nodded slightly. "I will locate them and transport Camryn to school if necessary."

"Thank you Optimus." He flicked his wrist to flip the small plate of armor back over the computer embedded in his bitarlueu. I'm sorry I didn't check on them sooner. I should've thought to check on them when Arcee, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee left to get the other three scraplets to school."

The tall mech nodded to acknowledge but did not condemn him for the mere mistake. Optimus knew that it would not be the end of Earth if she was a few minutes late to class.

Prime made his way out of the common room towards the hallway that lead to all of the individual quarters. Questions crossed his mind, but panic did not ensue. Sure, it was possible that they had been infiltrated, but what fight would they have to pick with their newest human ally and rookie guardian? The possibilities of that were slim.

The odds were so slim that the mech was not lead to form his blaster on mere suspicion as he approached the door.

"Smokescreen. Are you in there?" He called into the room. After waiting a few astroseconds, he called after the rookie again. "Smokescreen. Please come out."

No answer.

The Prime tried in vain to reach the newbie once again, but assumed that if he was truly in there, he was in power down mode.

Silence.

Optimus fought the urge to open the door, but reserved that option as a last resort. He squashed the anxiety of losing yet another teammate and calmly contacted Ratchet for assistance. "Ratchet, open an emergency comm and double check Smokescreen's position."

The medic immediately did what was asked of him and opened the channel. Soon after, he checked on the frequency to make sure Smokescreen's life signal was still online. He fought back the fear that he would find Screen's life signal at a flatline, just like he had discovered Cliffjumper's.

"Optimus, the emergency comm-link is now open and he still appears to be located somewhere within the base. His life signal is as strong as yours."

"Understood." He closed Ratchet's line and reopened Smokescreen's, now knowing that he would reach him if he was located on the other side of the door or in close proximity. "Smokescreen."

He paused and listened intently for rustling inside. "Smokescreen?"

Something moved. Levees of relief broke open inside his processor, causing him to breathe out the breath he didn't know he had been holding.

"Smokescreen. Please respond."

…

 **(Camryn)**

"I can't believe you got busted for forgetting to wake us up!" I said, feeling more awake than ever as we bridged out of sight near the outskirts of jasper. The weird Space Bridge high that we humans always got would wear off eventually, but I chose to live in that moment.

Besides, conserving energy was so boring and it's not like I needed it. I could play soccer and run in my sleep. Which, when I thought about it, was what I guessed I would be doing that afternoon.

"Me? You overslept too!" He shot playfully back as I synced my phone with the new bluetooth feature Raf assistance me install. That was a lie, actually, he did most of the work. I was a dinobot when it came to technology like that. Even so, he in all of his modesty, still held me accountable for the few things I did to aid.

"Well, I mean, yea! But-"

"But what, hotshot?"

I grinned. I loved it, for some random reason, when he called me hotshot. "Nothing, newbie."

He kept quiet, although I sensed his snicker as he sped way over the speed limit to get me to the school as fast as he could. I kept an eye out for the few cops that occasionally patrolled the town.

I clicked the green shuffle button on my playlist. The app searched for the weak signal that Jasper was able to harness way out in the middle of nowhere. I put the phone down on top the the center console and waited patiently, already used to the slow reaction time.

I'll Be Good by Jaymes Young came on. I reached down for my phone with intent on changing the song. I suppose I just didn't feel like listening to that song.

"Can we listen to this one? I kind of like it." Smokescreen requested, catching me just before I pressed the button. I nodded with a smile, set the phone down, and began to fix my hair blindly. I hadn't had enough time to do much of anything but grab my backpack and almost remember everything accept my soccer socks, throw some clothes on that weren't pajamas, and bridge out of there.

Smoke sped into town, gradually decreasing his speed as we neared the high school. I hummed to the song as he pulled into the small parking lot. After he threw on the breaks, we skidded to a stop precisely right smack square to the double doors.

I jumped out, already knowing that in-school-suspension awaited my arrival for being twenty minutes late. "See you this afternoon!"

I waved and he revved his engine in response. Before I could shoot through the door, he honked at me. I spun around as he gradually rolled his window down. "Forgetting something?"

"Right!" I laughed. After throwing my backpack down and jogging over there, I-due to how complicated I randomly made situations-reached through the open window, nearly falling headfirst into the passenger seat to grab my phone.

"Okay! Thanks Smokescreen! Goodbye for real this time!" I sprinted my way back to my backpack, zipped the cell phone into my bag, and strolled into the school like nothing ever happened.

…

 **(Smokescreen)**

The song cut out as soon as her phone got out of range of the bluetooth receptor thingy-ma-jig. I let out a disappointed sigh and sped off towards the base to waste some time before I had to make my way back there to pick her up.

As I neared the base, I checked my surroundings. If joining Team Prime had taught me anything, it definitely would've been to check my surroundings at all times. When I noticed no movement and nothing echoed into my audials, I began to ponder that last night and the message behind that favorite song of mine.

It always hit me hard. The melody generally got me a little worked up because it always made me think of the soft but wonderful memories. The peace on Cybertron, my first encounter with Optimus Prime, meeting Camryn, laughing with her, playing racing video games with her, and so many more fond memories.

I know, it was cheesy, but it really was true.

…

I cautiously pulled into the base, hoping to catch the doc, Prime, and Arcee out of the room so I could tiptoe past and let them get over my previous mistake.

I definitely wasn't in the mood to receive the lecture I knew Optimus had for me. Neither did I want to endure Ratchet's endless nagging, Arcee's penetrating stares, Bulkhead's reassuring back plate slaps, or Bumblebee's mumbling… or whatever you would call his nearly in audible beeping.

Look, I knew I messed up. Even after the talk Prime gave about responsibility and how proud he was of me, I still messed up. I got it. I already contained the knowledge that I needed to be more responsible and everything. And sure, my helm could be a little thick to advice at times, but still! I may have been a rookie on the team, but I wasn't a sparkling!

I sighed, wishing I could muster a laugh at how silly I was being.

Why did I obsess over such a simple mishap? The answer is: I truly don't know.

Possibly it was because I was always so eager to prove myself, although I had nothing to prove, according to Wheeljack.

Perhaps it was my own fear of looking weak that blinded me from the realization that it wasn't the end of Earth or Cybertronian existence that Camryn was late to school. Once.

...

* * *

Not sure if I love this or hate it but… yea.

All credit goes to Jaymes Young for the ownership and creation of the amazing song "I'll Be Good." Also, pertaining to the last chapter, "Out Like a Light" is completely owned by Drake and not me (obviously).

Thank you all for reading! I don't know if you know what your view means to us writers. I tried to take the suggestions that you all sent through the review box, to heart. I've been focusing on grammar, spelling, and tense a little more closely and hopefully it paid off for you all!

Finally, a longer, much awaited chapter. I'm sorry if you got a little melty when he started to hum the song, because I sure did! I swear, we will get into the true action soon!

If you enjoyed, please leave a review and don't forget to tune in for the next chapter by following the story! I love you all.

*bitarlueu = forearm


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